


I'll Live

by Ghostinthehouse



Series: Demon and Angel Professors [137]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Professors, Disabled Crowley (Good Omens), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27604823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostinthehouse/pseuds/Ghostinthehouse
Summary: The rumours took no time at all to shape a tale of how evil Dr Crowley attacked Dr Young - who, while not as beloved as Dr Fell, was much liked among the students - out of nowhere.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Crowley & Adam Young (Good Omens)
Series: Demon and Angel Professors [137]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1412962
Comments: 32
Kudos: 662
Collections: Aspec-friendly Good Omens





	I'll Live

Crowley's leg spasmed mid-stride, sending him lurching sideways. He flung out an instinctive arm to catch himself on the wall, and realised too late that Adam was between him and the wall itself. He swore in a soft, urgent hiss of sound, and ended up grabbing the younger man's shoulder, sending _him_ lurching sideways into the actual wall. Fortunately, there weren't that many students about, and a savage glare sent those few fleeing the scene. He gritted his teeth and let Adam go as soon as he safely could, shifting position so that he could lean on the wall as originally planned. "You ok?" he got out. Aziraphale would have been ok, had been ok in the past, but his angel was rather stronger, and much heavier, and a great deal more practiced in taking Crowley's weight on next to no notice.

Adam smiled rather ruefully. "Oh, I'm fine, just startled. Are you ok? You're the one who, uh..." He waved a hand to demonstrate Crowley's lurch.

"Fell?" Crowley quipped. He took a breath, let it out slowly, eased himself straighter, reminded himself it would be worse without the brace. "I'll live." Aziraphale would have caught that he wasn't saying he was ok, Adam didn't seem to.

"Oh," Adam said instead, his voice full of relief. "I'm glad about that."

"I appreciate the catch."

"You're welcome." Adam swallowed. "Do you, uh, need a - shoulder to get where you're going?"

Crowley glanced after the fled students. "There will be rumours," he warned.

Adam rolled his eyes. "They can't be any worse than last time. Come on." He rested an all too hesitant hand on Crowley's back and, when Crowley didn't shrug him off, steered them both towards his own office as being the closest available seating.

***

True to form, the rumours took no time at all to shape a tale of how evil Dr Crowley attacked Dr Young - who, while not as beloved as Dr Fell, was much liked among the students - out of nowhere.

"They were walking quietly, then Dr Crowley just lunged at him and slammed him into the wall!" someone elaborated.

"Yeah," another student added, "and Dr Crowley gave everyone such a vicious look we all thought we'd be next!"

Cass, when they heard the ever-expanding rumours on their way to a Botany lesson, could hardly believe their ears. It matched the other rumours they had heard, but none of them came even close to the reality of Cass's experience. Because, yes, Dr Crowley had that face drawn on harsh, forbidding, lines and angles, and that voice sharp enough to cut through noise and comments like a razor, and he drove all his students mercilessly to become the best that they could be, but he wasn't _bad_. Not the way these rumours tried to make out.

They ventured to say so, but the few who heard them dismissed their experience as false. After all, if it was true, it would match everything else, wouldn't it?

Cass took the dismissal with resignation and went on to their lesson. Dr Crowley was already there, lounging back in his usual chair with his long legs stretched out in front of him and his dark glasses hiding much of his expression. They searched his face for clues to the person everyone insisted he was and found only lines - age lines, by the depth of them - around his mouth. Nothing else, even as he started on the lecture with his ever sharp, precise, words, and Cass settled to frantic note-taking as they tried to absorb the entire deluge of detail.

They did linger at the end of the lesson, long enough to let the other students leave before they asked, "Are you ok? There's rumours..."

His mouth softened a little, and ticked up at the corner in the smallest of smiles. "There's always rumours. I'm much as usual, appreciate you asking."

Cass tentatively smiled back, reassured, because if everything was as usual, then it couldn't be bad. Could it?


End file.
